Custom single action sixguns by john taffin

ANDY HORVATH

In the early 1980s I saw an ad in J.D.’s HHI club paper. It simply read".44 Specials Custom Built.” Calling Andy Horvath resulted in his sending three samples of his specially crafted .44 Specials, one of which was on a Ruger Old Model .357 Blackhawk. I was impressed enough that I sent off an Old Model Ruger .357 to be made into a .44 Special. Instead of the standard version with a 4 5/8” barrel and regular grip frame, I had him cut both barrel and ejector rod to 4” and slightly round-butt the grip frame. In addition he tuned the action and provided a beautiful deep dark blue finish. That was the first L’il Gun but not the last as this gun started a long line of L’il Rugers by Horvath for sixgunners all over the country.

If the L’il Gun treatment is grand for .44s it is even more appropriate for smaller guns such as the Ruger Single-Six. Both the Single-Six and Bisley Model have been offered in a .22 Long Rifle and .32 Magnum both of which are excellent candidates for small-sized Trail Guns. There are times when we prefer to go lightly on the trail and a smallish .22 or .32 is not only all we need, it is probably the best choice. These little sixguns with barrels and ejector housings cut to 4”, the blued guns beautifully refinished, actions and triggers tuned, and grip frames slightly round-butted are perfect companions in the field when power is not needed.

Five L’il Guns by Andy Horvath; the three on the left are all .22s while the other two are .32 Magnums.

One of the best looking Ruger conversions comes from Andy by combining a Three Screw Ruger with a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum barrel to come up with a unique .44 Special conversion. The full-length ribbed S&W barrel is cut to 5-1/2” and the enclosed ejector rod housing is removed and the barrel is shaped single action style. Andy then added a beautifully blended in undercut post front sight on a ramp base, and shaped and scalloped the leading edges of the Flat-Top frame to mate perfectly with the ribbed barrel; the ejector rod head is full-size and checkered to keep the finger from slipping off when ejecting spent cases, the base pin is #5 style, and the hammer is exquisitely shaped to an elongated checkered oval perfectly contoured to blend beautifully with the rest of the sixgun. Finally the finish is high polished bright blue matched up with a case hardened mainframe and hammer. Adding a stainless-steel Old Army Grip frame fitted with a pair of circassian walnut stocks by Roy Fishpaw results in a .44 Special which is a little heavier than most built on Three Screw Rugers, however this weight adds greatly to shooting comfort and this sixgun shoots extremely well.

KEN KELLY

Mag-na-port is an excellent example of what can be accomplished by a man with a vision. Kelly hit upon the idea of cutting slots in gun barrels, slots that would reduce muzzle jump, and Mag-na-port was born. Mag-na-porting a gun barrel consists of the electronic cutting of scientifically designed trapezoidal slots using in-house designed carbon electrodes that cut a perfect slot. The operation is very clean with no burrs on either the face or underside of the cut. Larry Kelly is retired and my pal, Kenny Kelly now runs the operation.Larry Kelly started Mag-na-porting sixguns in 1973, and as a dedicated handgun hunter he soon added custom sixguns to the Mag-na-port catalog such as the Stalker Series designed specifically with the handgun hunter in mind. Conceived by Larry as the perfect revolver for serious handgun hunting, the first Stalker, a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum, has been used by Kelly all over the globe to take many big game trophies. The Stalker is described as "a very special gun offered to meet the requirements of the hunting fraternity--the dedicated handgun hunters...” All Stalker conversions, be they on Super Blackhawks or the Freedom Arms Model 83, have several common attributes, namely, an 8 3/8" barrel, an inverted muzzle crown that I would like to have on every sixgun I own, Mag-na-porting, Velvet Hone finish, polished hammer and trigger, a superb action job, Pachmayr grips, SSK T’SOB scope mount base, 2X Leupold scope, swivels and studs, and a carrying sling. The Super Blackhawk was the obvious choice for the first Mag-na-port Stalker as it has been a favorite of handgun hunters since it arrived in 1959.

Mag-na-port was one of the first custom sixgunsmiths to offer a Perfect Packin’ Pistol, the short barreled fast handlin' Predator. Starting with a stainless steel Super Blackhawk, the barrel is cut to 4 5/8”, Mag-na-ported, and the inverted muzzle crown feature is added. The Predator also has the standard Velvet Hone finish, action job, polished hammer, trigger, cylinder pin release, cylinder pin, ejector rod head, and screws. More than 25 years ago I sent a blued .44 Magnum 7 1/2” Ruger Super Blackhawk off to Larry Kelly to be ported. Kelly called me and said; "What about this...and this...and this?" The result was a beautifully customized Perfect Packin’ Pistol. The action was tuned, the barrel shortened to 4-5/8” and Mag-na-ported, and the entire sixgun finished in a stainless steel style finish know as Mag-na-loy. The result was basically a pre-Predator. Mag-na-port is mainly known for, as their name implies, Mag-na-porting; however they are also an excellent source for custom sixgun work.

With the arrival of the Freedom Arms .454 in the early 1980s I ordered a 10” version and for years shot nothing but heavy loads in it. As I grew older recoil was not as much fun as it had been, the Freedom Arms .454 was still as good as new, but I wasn’t, so it was sent of to Ken Kelly at Mag-na-port to be tamed. I went a step above porting and had a Mag-na-brake installed along with swivels for attaching a sling while hunting. The Freedom Arms .454 will last forever and now I can last a little longer.

One to shoot and one to save. Both are custom .44 Magnum Ruger Super Blackhawks. Top example is an Old Model cut to 4-5/8”, finished in the stainless steel like Mag-na-life, fitted with an Old Army grip frame and Eagle’s Ultraivory grips; the other is serial #1 of the Mag-na-port 25th Anniversary Model.

JOHN LINEBAUGH

One fourth of July evening in nearly 1980s I received a call from a man who introduced himself as John Linebaugh and who also made extravagant claims about what could be done with the .45 Colt in one of his custom sixguns. As a result of that conversation John sent me a .45 Colt on a Seville frame. Everything he said was true and I was soon driving 260 and 300 grain .45 Colt cast bullets at velocities well above the .44 Magnum. I soon realized when it came to sixguns it paid to listen to John.I took the long ride over to Cody Wyoming to visit him and see his little shop firsthand. Shortly thereafter he built one of his first really big guns on a Ruger Bisley Model. This was a .500 Linebaugh which was arrived at by cutting .348 Winchester brass to approximately 1.300”. A few years later John performed the same act on the .45-70 brass to come up with his .475 Linebaugh. Both cartridges thrive on cast bullets in the 400 grain range. John not only does conversions on customers’ Bisley Models he also offers two special packages, the Alaskan Model with Dall sheep horn stocks and the African Model with ivory grips. The grips are made by John's son Dustin and either model is available in .454 Casull and .475 or .500 Linebaugh.

Linebaugh’s Alaskan Model is offered in .454, .475, and .500 and features Dall sheep horn stocks.

Dustin not only provides the grips he is also a sixgunsmith in his own right and it was my pleasure a few years ago to shoot and test his heavy duty .38-40, a conversion which turns the old Winchester Centerfire into a true Magnum without excessive recoil. The Linebaughs practice Old School Sixgunology; they build sixguns which are powerful and easy to pack.

John is now joined by his son Dustin who built this heavy-duty .38-40.